Rafa is still the king of Parisian soil. After two very emotional weeks, the 2022 edition of Roland-Garros ended this Sunday with the 14th coronation of the eternal Rafael Nadal. Imperial, the Mallorcan made short work of the young Norwegian Casper Ruud, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in 2:19. Jostled in the eighth by Félix Auger-Aliasimusin quarters by Novak Djokovic then in halves by Alexander Zverev, Rafa showed tremendous will and courage to overcome the pain associated with his foot and make even more history. With this 22nd Grand Slam title, the 36-year-old Spaniard now has two coronations ahead of Novak Djokovic et Roger Federer stuck at 20.
Nadal explains his shock treatment to be able to play!
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“I don’t know what will happen in the future but I will keep fighting”
After his coronation, on the court, Rafa of course took the microphone. “Casper, it’s a pleasure to play against you. You’re great. You’ve had a great run, especially the last two weeks, and I’m super happy for you. I wish you the best“, he said. He then continued. “I would like to say thank you to my team, thank you all for what you have done with me and for all these years. I have great support from my family. It is thanks to that that I am here today. For me, it’s the biggest tournament in the world. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible. You make me feel at home. It’s hard to describe my feelings. It’s something I never imagined, to still be competitive at 36 years old. It’s incredible. Thanks again to everyone. I don’t know what will happen in the future but I will keep fighting.“Reassuring after rumors of a possible retirement after this Roland have circulated.
“Here, the most difficult moment after the second game against Moutet, at the hotel, I could hardly walk”
At the microphone of France 2, the Majorcan also confided. “Well, without suffering you can’t win. It is true that my daily life has been very difficult for a year and a half. At home it is difficult. The problems with the foot were difficult. The rib was nothing because we knew it was going to heal. On the other hand, the foot is every day of my life. The team helps me in my daily life otherwise it would be impossible. Here, the most difficult moment after the second game against Moutet, at the hotel, I could hardly walk. I was lucky and the doctor helped me a lot. I played with the sleeping foot, it was necessary to block the nerves so that I could move. That’s why we have to find a solution, it can’t go on like this. That’s why this victory is very important, it means a lot. We will do everything we can to try to continue. I’m happy to play. I like competition. We will see what will happen, we will do what is necessary. We spoke with different doctors, there are different options, we will try a treatment next week. I would love to continue.”
🎾 “After the second game […]when I arrived at the hotel, I could barely walk.” #RolandGarros
After the final, Rafael Nadal spoke about his state of health and the rest of his season.
▶�’� Full interview: https://t.co/8GNc0gFHzv pic.twitter.com/ST6MkXzdvr
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) June 5, 2022
“If that doesn’t work, then that will be another story, and I’m going to ask if I’m ready to do major surgery.”
In conference, Nadal was able to speak for a long time on his foot. And the results are mixed. There is hope but also danger. “The mindset is very clear: I will continue to work to try to find a solution and an improvement in relation to what is happening in my foot. I was able to play these two weeks in extreme conditions. I played with a nerve injection to cut the pain in the foot. It is thanks to that that I was able to play during these two weeks. So I had no feeling in my foot anymore, because my doctor was able to put an anesthetic on the nerves and that took away all the feeling in my foot. I wanted to keep trying and give myself the opportunity here and it was the only way to give me the chance to play. Of course, I can’t continue to play tournaments with a sleepy foot. So, now, we will have to go back to coal.“
If the new treatment does not work, Rafa could go through an operation which would keep him away from the pitch for a long time. “We talked a lot about the possibilities, about what is happening. If we are able to cut the sensations at the level of the two nerves and keep the sensations on the foot, we can try to treat the foot to try to create this sensation in permanent conditions. That’s what we’re trying to do next week, I don’t know exactly when, and I don’t know how to say it in English, what the exact treatment will be called, but it will be radio frequency treatment, injection on the nerve to try to neutralize the nerve and create the impact that I have on the nerve for a long time. If it works, I’ll keep playing; if that doesn’t work out then that’s another story and i’m gonna ask if i’m willing to do major surgery that i’m not sure if i can be competitive again and that will take some time time to come back.“
🠇 ªï¿½’🠇 ªï¿½’🠇 ªï¿½ ‘#RolandGarros | @Rafael Nadal pic.twitter.com/4KtOMnhGsx
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2022
“If I continue to be happy, to play tennis with what I have, I will continue if I am not able to do it I will do something else”
Between tennis and health, Nadal prioritize health. “It’s very clear, what I have on my foot isn’t going to be any worse after what I’ve done, but there is a risk of having other problems when you play with a part of your body that doesn’t. has no feeling. It’s a risk I wanted to take by playing here. It’s not a risk I want to continue to take, for the grass season. It worked, I won the title here. I experienced an incredible emotion, which will remain etched in my memory forever. So that makes sense to me. What I have on my foot hasn’t gotten worse after that. But that will be my decision about the next step in my future. My clear decision is that life is always more important than another title. Of course, my tennis career has been a priority all my life. But that was never a priority for my happiness in life, so things kept going that way. If I continue to be happy, to play tennis with what I have, I will continue if I am not able to do it I will do something else.“
